CADXTRA

SIE SUPPORT - TALENT GRANT | SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNITY LAB | ENVIRONMENTAL & CARBON AUDIT

Millward is an integrated engineering consultancy working across the construction industry.

Millward first engaged with the SiE project when two of their staff attended the Carbon Management Programme, while their Graduate Civil Engineer (hired through the talent grant) joined the Sustainability Community Lab. Following this, Millward worked with Nottingham Business School student consultants and used a carbon grant to take forward student recommendations for LED lighting.

“I was very new to sustainability when I joined the Millward team last April, so I signed up to NTU’s Carbon Management Programme to find out more and learn how to calculate our carbon footprint.

“Next, I thought it would be good to get some help from NTU’s student consultants as they’ve been studying sustainability for much longer than I have and really know their stuff. As a company, we wanted to find out if we were on the right track with sustainability and get some practical help to reduce our energy use and carbon impact.

“The student consultants were all really insightful, they asked great questions and came back with some fantastic solutions. They checked our lighting and recommended the best way for us to switch to LED which gave us the confidence to go ahead with our lighting plans. We had a Carbon Grant from NTU, which has refunded 40% of the upfront cost, making switching even more affordable. Our LED lightbulbs have only been fully installed since January, but we’ve already seen a 20% saving in our monthly electricity bills.

Millward now has energy-efficient lighting 40% funded by a Carbon Grant, reducing their monthly electricity bills by 20%

“We’ve set ourselves a target to reduce our carbon footprint by 15% this year, and by a further 15% by the end of 2024. The support we’ve had from NTU’s Sustainability in Enterprise programme has helped us to embed sustainability across the business and get the whole staff team on board with lowering our emissions.”

Joanne

Carbon Management Programme participant:

Luke Radford, Administration Manager and Sustainability Lead at 2bm Ltd

CADXtra is a multi-disciplined design consultancy, working with worldleading manufacturers.

NTU's Sustainability Community Lab helped Nottingham-based design consultancy, CADXtra, set carbon reduction targets.

“ The Sustainability Community Lab has taught us how to think about and apply sustainability specifically to our companies, rather than simply telling us what to do. It’s also showed me how small changes can add up and broadened my view of sustainability and how different approaches can be used.

“ Being aware of how I can change my own habits around sustainability has made it easier for me to ask my colleagues to join in and change theirs. As part of that, we’re holding monthly environmental meetings so I can share what I’ve learnt, and I’ll keep educating myself and passing it on. That learning, together with our carbon footprint and recommendations, will also be written into our environmental policy.”

Kieran Stewart, Junior Design and Project Engineer

CADXtra received funding through a graduate talent grant to hire Kieran Stewart as a Junior Design and Project Engineer. The additional sustainability targets for the role included working with an external consultant to put the company through their ISO 14001 assessment. Additionally, he was tasked with helping map their footprint and researching ways of improving the overall sustainability of the business. Kieran was supported to do this through the Sustainability Community Lab.

The company also worked with NTU’s Sustainability Consultants to calculate their carbon impact and put an action plan in place to reduce emissions.

“As part of the programme, NTU calculated our first ever carbon footprint and gave us 29 recommendations for reducing our carbon emissions. Kieran is exploring how we can successfully roll out as many of the recommendations as possible, from using segregated food waste bins, to reducing our business travel, to setting up a system for gathering accurate sustainability data.

“The SiE programme has given us the capability to dedicate time to sustainability and invest in the future of our business. As a small company, it can be hard to maintain the impetus when there’s no one else supporting you. Through NTU’s support, you feel as if you have a partner, someone who is able to sit with you, guide you, and give you the tools, which makes everything seem so much easier.”

Jonathan Hedge, Director